Slow Browsing/Direct Download, but Fast Bittorrent Download

I'm using Windows XP SP2. I have a 1 MB connection via a SpeedTouch 585, and my internet speed registers at 0.3 MB, with a maximum download of 30kbps. Not to mention a terrible ping at 500-1500. On the other hand, I get full speed in uTorrent - a bittorrent program - reaching up to 100 kbps; the way it should be.

I haven't made any changes to anything. And it has been functioning well until the last month. I waited in hope that it could be an ISP issue and that it would be resolved, but their support crew did not help me with this problem either.

I've tried disabling all firewalls, and all wireless connections, using different browsers, and disabling QoS. But it did not work. Me thinks it's an ISP issue, but if so, how am I getting full speed in uTorrent?

Could somebody help me out with this?

P.S. I do NOT use uTorrent while I surf or download files directly from the internet. So there isn't any downloading conflicts here.

Thanks.

Solution 1:

As mentioned if you're running uTorrent while trying to download there would be a conflict of interests. Commonly BitTorrent will flood your router with connections, leaving very little left for other applications even if you've throttled the speed. You would have to throttle the number of peers each torrent can connect to (or a global setting).

Another thing to consider is websites that throttle the speed at which you can download. This is most clearly evident on sites such as Rapidshare where if you haven't paid / registered you will get decreased download speed.

Using a Download Accelerator / Manager can speed up your download by using simultaneous connections to the server.

Finally you can complain to your ISP. There are a variety of problems that could be causing this, several simple solutions have been provided. If none work then you should call your ISP.